Editor's note

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has just wrapped up a conference pledging solidarity with the people of Western Sahara. The sparsely populated territory in Northwest Africa has been embroiled in a decades-long struggle for independence from Morocco. Frank Mattheis writes that the conference was an attempt to refocus the world’s attention on the struggle of the region's Sahrawi people for self-determination.

The Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission has heard numerous accounts of gross human rights violations committed under the country's previous ruler, Yahya Jammeh. Abdul-Jalilu Ateku says there's no doubt the commission will uncover a great deal - but it's unclear how Jammeh, in whose name the crimes were committed for two decades, will account for the allegations against him.

Thabo Leshilo

Politics + Society Editor

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A Sahrawi refugee carries a flag of the Democratic Arab Republic of Sahara.
MOHAMED MESSARA/EPA